In some wireless communication systems, one or more communication devices employ multiple antennas. Accordingly, a communication channel between two such devices can be a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) channel when both communication devices employ multiple antennas, a single-input, multiple-output (SIMO) channel when a transmitting device (“the transmitter”) employs a single transmit antenna and the receiving device (“the receiver”) employs multiple receive antennas, or a multiple-input, single-output (MISO) channel the transmitter employs multiple transmit antennas and the receiver employs a single receive antenna.
The communication devices in the wireless communication systems may be capable of using a variety of modulation schemes. For example, some modulations schemes may provide a higher bit rate than other schemes (e.g., 256-QAM vs. 64-QAM). Different modulation/demodulation schemes have various degrees of complexity, and complexity of a given demodulation technique may affect the complexity of a receiver. Higher complexity of a demodulation technique generally requires more complexity on the receiver, e.g., more, larger, and/or more expensive processing modules and/or components. Higher complexity of a demodulation technique may also lead to an increase in processing time and an increase in power consumption.